


Under the night sky

by What_point



Series: Point's pile of JATP fics [12]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex Mercer Has Anxiety (Julie and the Phantoms), Bisexual Julie Molina, Bisexual Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Bonding, Developing Friendships, Dorks in Love, F/F, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Friendship, Luke Patterson Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), M/M, Pansexual Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Platonic Cuddling, Pre-Relationship, Reggie Peters Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), Sleepy Cuddles, Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Touch-Starved, everyone is neurodivergent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:02:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28794354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/What_point/pseuds/What_point
Summary: Ignoring Luke’s loud shouts of protest, Alex slows the swing down enough for Reggie to be able to get on. Reggie jumps forward excitedly and dives onto the swing. He lands on Luke, knocking all air out of the guitarist.Julie nudges Alex’s side, lightly pushing him towards the rest. He carefully sitting down, placing his legs over Luke’s and Reggie’s intertwined ones. Reggie looks up and beams at him when their eyes meet. Julie sits down next to Luke, leaning back against Alex. Luke softly taps her elbow. ‘Thank you’ it means. She gently bumps her knee against his head, the touch softened even more by his beany. ‘You’re welcome.’...Or the band finds an empty playground after a performance and has some well deserved bonding time, in form of a cuddle pile and teasing.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina, Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer/Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn/Julie Molina, Julie Molina & Luke Patterson, Julie Molina & Reggie Peters
Series: Point's pile of JATP fics [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995184
Comments: 6
Kudos: 99





	Under the night sky

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I started this fic on the thought that now Julie and the boys could touch, they probably would. So I wrote a cuddle pile with bonding between these idiots who stole my heart.  
> (if you want to see a drawing I made of this, check out the link at the end)
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading!

_"I can't believe your dad lets you walk home alone after a show,"_ Flynn says, her voice airy over the phone's speaker. Her icon lights up and dims down as she talks, sending a soft glow over Julie's face.

Luke looks at the screen offended, stopping dead in his tracks. "But we're here with Jules," he says. Highlights and shadows fall over his face. The frown between his eyes seems deeper in the light.

Julie rolls her eyes and pushes past him, continuing to walk down the street. An elderly couple rounds the corner, walking their dog. "I'm not alone, the guys are with me," she whispers, holding the phone close to her lips. Still the couple looks at her weird as she passes them. She smiles back, hoping it will help. The woman holding the leash steps more sideways, averting her eyes.

 _"Yeah, a group of ghosts, who can only be seen by you,"_ Flynn retorts, followed by rapid typing on her keyboard.

"You know, Flynn, you're not really being respectful of the death right now," Reggie says. He grabs the sleeve of Luke's jacket, pulling him back into motion. Alex pushes Luke's shoulder at the same time, almost passing through the dog.

"Yeah Flynn, show some respect," Luke jabs.

Julie chuckles, quickly pushing her hand against her mouth. Still her microphone picks it up.

 _"What's so funny?"_ Flynn asks, the sound of her typing stopping. _"Luke, I will hit you,"_ she threatens.

"Wha-, why do you think it's only me!"

"Flynn, stop being mean to the guys, I'll be alright."

_"Ugh, fine. Just text me when you get home."_

"I will. Love you," Julie says, a small smile playing on her lips as she stares down at the little icon. The screen illuminates her face, a soft pink colour visible on her cheeks in the blue light.

"Goodnight Flynn!" Alex and Reggie say in unison, the latter throwing himself half over Julie's shoulder towards the phone. She comes to a halt to keep them from falling forwards.

 _"Love you too, give the guys a hug from me!"_ Flynn says brightly, before hanging up.

"Someone is blushing," Luke whispers loud in her ear. She shoves him, but he just dances away.

The shadows around him stay unmoved in the motion, redefining that he wasn’t really here. At least not completely. It causes a shudder to creep over her spine, but she shrugs it off. Julie has learned to ignore it, just like their ability to poof into a room as they please, or pass through objects when they weren’t paying attention. Instead she points an accusing finger at him. "I will kill you again, Patterson."

"Try me Molina," he laughs back, staying out of reach.

"You want me to bring up yesterday," she says, raising her eyebrow at him. Luke’s eyes widen comically.

"You wouldn’t dare."

"I wouldn’t?" She wiggles her eyebrows. She knows she wouldn’t, the conversation had happened in complete trust and care about each other. Luke knew that too, but that didn’t make it not good teasing material. 

Reggie squeezes her shoulder, causing her to look his way.

"What is it?" Alex asks, just as Reggie opens his mouth. Alex looks between her and Luke, a slight frown between his eyes.

"Yes, that," Reggie says, detaching himself from her shoulders to point at Alex instead. Alex swats at his finger, but he let's Reggie grab his wrist.

"Julie," Luke says, trying to sound threatening and pleading at the same time. It doesn't work either way. "You promised."

Julie taps her head with her index finger, faking to be deep in thought. Luke pouts at her, his puppy eyes begging her to not spill his secret. She has to force her face to stay neutral, biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing.

"I did, didn’t I. Such a shame," she eventually mutters, before continuing on her way with a spring in her step. Anything to not show Luke the smile that found its way on her lips.

"You can’t just ignore us." Reggie sprints after her, letting go of Alex, leaving him behind with Luke.

"You know you can talk to us too, right?" Alex says softly, reaching out. Luke smiles, taking his hand, letting Alex tug him along towards the rest.

Reggie is trying to get information out of Julie, but she only laughs, shrugging her shoulders with a knowing smile on her lips. She looks back, winking at Luke. She won’t tell, they both know it. He grins back at her.

Alex tries to pull his hand out of Luke’s hold, but the action is weak. Luke glances sideways, seeing Alex’s other hand fiddle with the end of his sleeve. His fingers twisting around the edge. He dumps his shoulder against Alex’s, causing him to look up.

"Hey, don’t worry. It’s nothing bad," he reassures. These emotions are positive. He knows that now thanks to Julie.

Alex smiles, but his eyes stay nervous. Luke squeezes his hand.

"I’ll tell you about it later. I trust you."

Alex nods, squeezing his hand in return.

...

After a while Alex lets go of his hand to start walking next to Julie. He briefly glances over his shoulder at him, before asking Julie about a school event.

Reggie grins at him, slowing down enough to start walking next to Luke, a knowing look in his eyes as he nods at Alex’s backside. Luke, just as silent, shakes his head, his cheeks heating up. Reggie’s grin only widens, and _oh if only he knew_. Instead he throws his arm over Reggie’s shoulders. He smiles at how easily Reggie gives in, lets Luke move him forward without any protest.

Then Reggie pokes at his side, slipping out of his grasp. “You’re _it_ ,” Reggie screams over his shoulder, his laugh clear in his voice.

“Oh you’re on,” Luke dares back, chasing after him.

They pass Julie and Alex, who stop their conversation long enough to look at them and raise their eyebrows in uniosun. However, Luke doesn’t ponder about it for more than a second. He got a game to win after all.

…

Luke suddenly stops walking, causing Reggie to dump into him.

"What is it?" Julie asks, as she almost hits Reggie in the middle of her step.

Luke nods to his side and she follows his eyes, looking past him to the pathetic playground on a bare grassy field. The slide and swings looked sad in the dark of the night, as if there haven't been any kids to play with them for a long time.

Though Luke seems to have different thoughts as he turns around to Alex. "Alex," Luke says, pulling on the sleeve of Alex's hoodie. "Alex, look." He points at the bird's nest swing with his other hand. "Alex, you have to push me."

Alex shakes his head, but he doesn't pull his arm out of Luke's grip. "we have to get back home, it's late."

"We can stay for a bit, but I’ll have to text my dad that we will be later," Julie says, pulling her phone out of her back pocket.

"Yes! I love you Julie!" Luke exclaims, quickly making his way to the swing. Alex stumbles after him, trying to keep up as he gets pulled along, Luke still holding his sleeve tightly.

"Your dad will be okay with it?" Reggie asks as he leans against her, watching her type over her shoulder.

Julie glances at him from the corner of her eye, forcing herself to keep going and not question the way his voice wavers slightly. "Of course, there isn't school tomorrow and he knows I'm not alone," she says carefully, watching him frown almost invisible.

"But he won’t get angry about it later?" her screen lights up, showing the message of her dad telling her it’s okay. She types back a quick response.

"No," she says, pocketing her phone, "and if something would be troubling him about what I did, we would sit down and talk about it."

"Okay, that's good." He nods in himself as she turns to look at him. He looks more assured, but she learned to not always trust his facial expressions.

"We will talk with him tomorrow alright, then you can see for yourself," she says, smiling up.

"I like that," Reggie nods, before a scream, quickly followed by laughter, causes them to look at where Luke is. The swing swings close to the height of the bar that holds it. Alex has to jump to reach the edge of the net.

"If you fall out of this thing, I'm not accountable," he says, a smile on his mouth.

The only response Luke gives is a combination of laughter and screaming, sounding suspiciously close to ‘harder coward!’

“I’m not that tall, idiot,” Alex yells back, but his words hold no venom.

“Slow it down!” Reggie cries out, quickly moving to them. “I want to join.”

Julie follows, her cheeks hurt from smiling too wide. She doesn’t mind.

Ignoring Luke’s loud shouts of protest, Alex slows the swing down enough for Reggie to be able to get on. He does just that, jumping forward excitedly and diving onto the swing. He lands hard on Luke, falling onto him.

Luke lets an ‘oomph’ as all the air is knocked out of him.

“Ah!” Reggie yelps. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

He tries to get up, but Luke stops him, wrapping arm around his waist to hold him down. “No no, it’s fine,” he wheezes, sounding completely out of breath. “You can stay here if you like.”

“Ah?” Reggie stares down at him, his face rapidly becoming multiple red shades darker. He hides his face against Luke’s shoulder. “Oh-okay, yeah I would like that.” His voice is high pinched and barely audible, but here on the empty playground in the death of the night, they all hear him.

Luke’s eyes meet Julie’s over the top of Reggie’s head. She grins smugly at him, wiggling her eyebrows. Even though most of his face is hidden, she can still see the light blush on his cheekbones. He glares at her, but there is no real heat in his eyes. He glances at Alex, so fast she barely sees it, let alone Alex.

Alex is still standing where he brought the swing to a halt when Reggie jumped. He is watching Luke and Reggie, his arms hanging uselessly at his sides, a pained look on his face. So deep in his own head that he misses the way Reggie glances up from where he lies curled around Luke, peeking at Alex with hopeful eyes before hiding his face again. Luke’s eyes are dancing between Alex and Reggie, clearly wanting to say something, but he doesn’t.

Alex is watching, but not actually seeing what is so clear.

She rolls her eyes, apparently she is the only one smart enough here to understand what’s happening.

Julie nudges Alex’s side, lightly pushing him towards the rest. He glances at her, his anxious eyes screaming _‘but what if they don’t want me there’_ and Julie has to do everything in her power to not roll her eyes at that. She had told herself that she was not going to spell it out and that they should get the chance to be able to figure it out themselves. Only that promise keeps her from just pushing Alex on top of the two idiots that are already on the swing.

She sighs, hearing a voice that sounds suspiciously like Luke calling her out on being a hypocrite.

She smiles at Alex, giving a small nod of reassurance, nudging him towards the swing again. This time he goes willingly, carefully sitting down, placing his legs over Luke’s and Reggie’s intertwined ones. Reggie looks up and beams at him when their eyes meet. He shifts, twisting so Alex’s legs lay more comfortable over his.

Julie sits down next to Luke, leaning back against Alex. Luke softly taps her elbow. _‘Thank you’_ it means. She gently bumps her knee against his head, the touch softened even more by his beany. _‘You’re welcome.’_

…

Reggie pushes himself up, turning to look at Luke with big eyes. He blinks down at him before glancing at Alex and Julie. "I think he's having a fever," Reggie tells them, pressing his hand to Luke's forehead.

Luke swats his hand away, leaning back, trying to get out of Reggie's reach. Which is almost impossible as he is trapped under him.

"No I'm not, I meant what I said."

Luke glances at Alex, looking for any kind of support, only for the drummer to shrug his shoulders, turning to watch what Reggie will do next. Jullie just laughs quietly, leaving him completely on his own.

He looks back at Reggie, who is now looking at him with his eyes narrowed, the corner of his mouth pulling slightly, a sign that he doesn't believe it.

"So you are saying," Reggie says, jabbing a finger against his collar, punctuating the words, "that you _like_ 'home is where my horse is'. Which is a _country_ song."

“You are a great songwriter, Regs,” Luke says, grabbing hold of Reggie’s wrist to stop him from poking him. “I may not enjoy writing country myself, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate good music when I see it.”

“Hear it,” Alex corrects under his breath, but loud enough for all of them to hear. Julie snickers, pushing against Alex's shoulder.

Luke glares at Alex, but Alex just smiles back.

Reggie is staring at him in bewilderment. “You what now?”

“You know I don’t write country music myself,” Luke answers, confusion washing over him.

“No, ah.” Reggie shakes his head. “You think I’m a great songwriter?”

Luke frowns. “Yeah of course I think that, that’s because you are.”

“Fever,” Reggie mutters, placing his head on Luke’s chest, laying back down.

Luke watches the top of Reggie’s head perplexed. He blinked, before looking up at Julie and Alex, searching for help. Alex only shrugs his shoulders again, clearly not knowing what is going on either. Julie has her lips pressed in a thin line, her face turning slightly purple from her holding in her laugh.

… 

“Did you guys ever dated before you died?” Julie asks, sliding away from Alex enough to hit the ground with her feet. She pushes, making the swing rock slightly.

“You mean that as in—” Alex trails off.

Julie sits back in her original place with one last push, turning to look at him. Alex is keeping his eyes fixed on her, refusing to look at their other bandmates and Julie bites down on her cheek to stop herself from grinning.

“I mean like did any of you went on a date with any boys or girls from maybe school or something,” she answers, before quickly adding, “or did any of you maybe had a crush on someone from your band?”

Alex's eyes widen slightly, a pink flush washing over him. Not that the guys see it, as Reggie actually squeals as he hides away, his cheeks and ears bright red. Luke glares at Julie, tapping her elbow forcefully.

“No,” Reggie says, his voice shrill and muffled from where he pressed his face against his sleeve.

“No?”

Reggie pulls up enough to look at Julie, his whole face almost as red as his flannel. “I never dated anyone.”

Luke frowns, looking down at him. “But what about that girl from math class, what’s-her-name, who you always had those study dates with?”

“Those were just that, study dates, nothing more.”

“But I thought you liked her?”

Reggie huffs. “Yeah she was nice, but it wouldn’t have worked.” He glances at Alex and Luke, his ears turn red again. He casts down his eyes, watching his fingers pull on the edge of his sleeve. “We had nothing in common.”

“Oh yeah, I had that with,” Luke stops. “With-uh—”

“Clair?” Alex offers.

The name doesn’t seem to ring any bells for Luke. “Could be, don’t really remember. But she thought music could never be more than just a hobby. She didn’t get it, didn’t want to.” He shakes his head, turning to Julie. “I went on a few dates with different people, but they never seemed to understand what music is to me. To us.”

“I only went on one date with the cousin of Miranda,” Alex adds softly, looking at the nearest streetlight.

“Was that the guy that kissed you at her birthday party?” Reggie asks, tapping the side of Alex’s knee. Alex’s shoulders relax and he sends a small smile to Reggie.

“Yeah that’s the one.” Alex scratches his neck, turning slightly to Julie. “We knew he would leave in a week, but we thought we could get to know each other a bit better, just so we had a story to add with both of our first kisses. I came out to the band an hour after he left to go home.”

Julie places a warm hand over his shoulder, squeezing gently.

“And you?” Reggie asks, pushing himself up off Luke’s chest enough so the guitarist becomes visible.

“Me?” Julie blinks. Luke winks at her, _‘karma’_ it says.

“Well you know I had a crush on Nick—”

“And me,” Luke interrupts far too happily.

“And you,” Julie sighs, “though I don’t know why, with how dumb you are.”

Alex chuckles and Reggie hides his smile behind his sleeve.

“Hey!” Luke lets out, pouting at them. “Low blow, Jules, low blow.”

She just smiles in response.

“Any girls? I mean, you’re bi right?” Alex asks, his eyes full of fake innocence. She narrows her eyes slightly, trying to figure out what they want from her. They are pushing her in a corner and they are very much aware of that fact. She needs better friends.

“I had a short crush on Carrie in like third grade, we became friends after that,” she eventually mutters.

Alex nods, but just as she wants to let out a relieved breath Luke speaks. “And what about Flynn,” Luke says, not even asking any more. Smiling at her like yesterday's conversation didn’t happen.

_Yeah, no, she is not doing that._

“Nope, we are not going there.”

“Ahhh.” Reggie pouts.

Luke taps her elbow softly, _‘we good?’_

She rolls her eyes, but bumps her knee just as soft against his head, leaning back against Alex. She brushes her hand through Reggie’s hair.

_Yeah, they are good._

… 

Reggie is eventually the one who breaks the silence. He moves, turning just enough so he can look up. Luke completely disappears under him, but he doesn’t say anything.

"You know, I never really spent any time watching the stars before we died," Reggie breathes out, staring up at the milky way. "I mean, look at how beautiful they are.” He points, his fingers reaching up like he could grab them if he wanted. “And I never noticed them before.”

His arm falls down, eyes still fixed on the stars.

Julie blinks, opening her eyes enough to look up too. She doesn’t move, keeping her head on Alex’s shoulder, causing her to hear the small, sharp breath he sucks in as Reggie intertwines their fingers, tugging at his arm. _Reggie is getting brave,_ she vaguely thinks, before wondering when the last time had been when she had looked at the stars.

Luke feels how Reggie searches for his hand that is somewhere underneath the pile of limbs. He moves his hand and almost immediately Reggie grabs a hold of it. Luke presses his nose against Reggie’s shoulder, hiding the smile that forms on his lips.

“I'm just glad I got a second chance to see them," Reggie eventually mutters, just as soft as the light of the stars. He squeezes Alex’s and Luke’s hand at the same time, hoping they understand what he means.

"Well, I still can't see them, you dork, you're laying on top of me," Luke says, but his fingers softly tap a rhythm on Reggie’s waist and Reggie knows he doesn’t mean a word of it.

Alex squeezes his hand back, a smile on his lips. Reggie grins back, before tipping his head slightly in Luke’s direction. Alex’s smile grows, his eyes sparkling. He knows what Reggie is going to do and he approves. Everyone that said Alex was innocent and would be corrupted by Luke and Reggie had clearly never met him. Alex was an enabler and he had been one from the start.

Reggie turns away from the stars to look at Luke. "If you wanted me to move you could just have said so." Reggie pushes himself up, lifting himself off Luke. he barely gets five centimeters between them before Luke pulls him back down, his arm tightening around Reggie's waist.

"No, don't go. You're my blanket," he whines.

Jullie snorts, following the interaction closely with a dopey grin. "How are you guys even able to radiate heat?" she mutters, her eyes falling close.

“Huh.” Alex frowns. “No idea actually.”

Reggie shakes his head lightly, but he isn’t sure if Julie notices.

“Mmhph,” Luke eventually adds to the conversation, his fingers returning the beat on Reggie’s hip bone. Reggie doesn’t recognize the rhythm and he smiles against Luke’s shoulder. _A new song. We are inspiring him._

"I could ask Willie if he knows?" Alex offers.

“Sounds like a plan,” Julie mumbles, turning so she is more comfortable on Alex’s shoulder.

“Okay I will then.”

“Not now,” Luke says quickly. And maybe it is too fast, too open, too soon, but none of them care about those maybe’s.

“Yeah,” Alex whispers, “not now.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!
> 
> I made an drawing of them on the bird nest swing, which you can find through this link, https://www.instagram.com/p/CHoQLMnniOL/?igshid=khpxuvfls8b9 (@artist.inthewoods)  
> When I finish the painting, I will add the link to that too!
> 
> As always if you have any tips, tricks or just something to say, please do so in the comments!


End file.
